Shock Therapy
by Moriyasha Neko-hime
Summary: Just how did Hadesu-sensei snap Ashitaba back to normal in Chapter 16?


_**Summary:**_ Just how did Hadesu-sensei snap Ashitaba back to normal in Chapter 16?

Disclaimer: The wonderfully funny **'Hokenshitsu no Shinigami' **belongs to Aimoto Shou-sama.

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**Shock Therapy**

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Ashitaba had drunk at least six beakers of medicinal water, and still he had that damnably mellow expression on his face! Fuji was going to kill Motoyoshi if Ashitaba didn't turn back to normal soon!

"Dammit, Ashitaba! Wake UP!" The blond bishounen snapped, grabbing his friend by his sweater and shaking him violently.

"Fuji-kun, please!" The pale nurse quickly yanked the boys apart. Fuji made a small struggle, but Ashitaba continued to remain still and smiling pleasantly. "I don't think that's going to help anything."

"Sensei, do _something_!" Mimasaka urged. "It's starting to get creepy!"

' '_**Something'**__ he says…' _Hadesu thought with a sigh. But it was troubling to see his one of his favorite students like this. He was honestly afraid to ask Motoyoshi what he had done to the poor boy. All the same, he couldn't leave him like this. "Alright. It is a desperate situation, so I'll try a form of shock therapy…"

"Like…with electrical shocks…?" Yasuda edged away on his stool. "Isn't that…a little…?"

"Should I turn off the lights?" Motoyoshi offered helpfully.

"No, no! I'm just going to try saying something that might startle him awake," the teacher replied. Glancing around at the students gathered in the infirmary—Mimasaka and Motoyoshi stood together on his left; Fuji stood leaning against his desk on the right drinking some medicinal water; Yasuda had scooted his stool back against the wall—and he took a deep breath in preparation.

Placing his hands on Ashitaba's shoulders, he leaned down. "Ashitaba Iku…"

The boy looked up at him through hooded eyes.

"…I Love You."

Fuji choked and spat out his drink.

Mimasaka shrieked as he backed up.

Motoyoshi raised both eyebrows.

Yasuda left his stool to hang by the door.

However, Ashitaba's entire demeanor seemed to 'pop' like a bubble. Motoyoshi's expression vanished from his face and he was once again looking like himself as his eyes widened with shock.

"Ah! There it is!" Hadesu-sensei smiled brightly, patting his student on the shoulders. "How do you feel, Ashitaba-kun? Better?"

"I-I-I think so…" the boy stammered. He looked around the infirmary. "What happened? Where am I?"

"At school," the nurse replied evenly. "Do you remember anything?"

Ashitaba paused to think. "We all went to study at Motoyoshi-kun's house…and then—" He suddenly pointed at Fuji and Mimasaka accusingly. "And you all left me! You ran away!"

Fuji was still recovering from choking on his drink and unable to respond. Mimasaka was in shock from Hadesu-sensei's 'therapy' and equally incapable of replying.

"But… I don't remember anything after that…" the boy went on, holding his head. "What am I doing in the school infirmary? Don't we have tests on Monday?"

"Today is Thursday, Ashitaba-kun," Motoyoshi quipped pleasantly from beside his frozen friend.

The small boy's face went white. Tears of panic sprang to his dark eyes. "Oh my _GOD!_ What happened? Have I been sick? Did I miss the tests? Did I fail? What _happened_!"

"Relax, Ashitaba-kun…!" Hadesu-sensei sat him back down. "You have attended all of your classes and taken each test this week. And from what I've been hearing, Motoyoshi-kun's helping you actually made an impact on you. Everything is fine."

"Really...?" Ashitaba breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Motoyoshi and bowing his head. "Thank you so much for your help, Motoyoshi-kun…"

"You're quite welcome," the taller boy replied, as pleasant as ever. "If you want, I'll help you next time you're struggling, too."

Ashitaba flinched just slightly, but smiled. "Y-Yeah… Maybe… That might be great…"

And with that, urging Ashitaba to eat something high in protein, Hadesu sent the boys back to class.

"So… You don't remember…anything…?" Fuji asked carefully as they walked down the hall.

"I remember all of you running off and abandoning me!" The boy snapped at his blond-haired friend. "Well, I was afraid too, and then…there's this weird blur and I woke up in the infirmary. Has it really been almost a week since then? Did I really take all of the tests this week?"

"Every one," Motoyoshi smiled. "And I'm sure that you passed."

"But…I don't remember anything!" Ashitaba moaned. What sort of condition was he in throughout the week? How could he have passed each test when he couldn't even remember sitting at his desk that morning?

"Well, so long as you're back to normal, it's fine…" Fuji muttered. "But you don't remember how you woke up? Like, at all?"

"No. Why?"

The blond shuffled his feet, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking away. "N-Nothing. It's nothing."

"You seem upset, Fuji-kun," Motoyoshi quipped.

"I'm upset because of what you did to him!" He snapped.

"No… You seem more upset by what Hadesu-sensei said to Ashitaba than you were about my training."

"That—I'm—SHUT UP!"

Ashitaba looked back and forth between the two. "What did Motoyoshi-kun do? What did Hadesu-sensei _say_?"

"It's nothing," the darker-haired of the two answered calmly.

"Forget it!" Fuji said.

Behind the three, Mimasaka and Yasuda dragged their feet, both feeling a bit ill as they shared the same thought.

'_Freaks me the f#% out!'_


End file.
